1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to the field of social networking, and, in particular, to a system for a social circle based social networking and social gaming.
2. Description of Related Art
Social networking, such as establishing professional or personal affiliations (e.g., friendships), may be supported by an online social network. In general, online social networks can include social network members (e.g., individual network users) that typically have a member profile for each member/user. The user can use the profile to convey information about himself/herself to other users. For instance, the profile may be accessed or viewed through an associated application, such as a web browser on the Internet accessing web pages from one or more social networking web servers. These member profiles may be interrelated through associations (friendships), such that a specific member's profile may be accessible to other members of the network (e.g., the member's friends) based on policies in place on the profile and any related associations.
Members of a social network may establish an affiliation with one or more specific groups (i.e., sub-networks of members within the social network), which may have a separate group profile to convey information about the group (e.g., what the group is, who its members are, etc.). In particular, in addition to sharing affiliation in the group (e.g., sharing similar interests, businesses, organizations, etc.), members of a group may access the profiles of other members of that same group based on group policies. Typically, affiliation with a particular group occurs on an individual member basis; that is, to be affiliated with a group, each member must individually seek such affiliation. Currently, online social networking groups go no further than member affiliation within groups, group profiles to provide information about the group, and a listing of the group's members. Individual users can also create groups and join groups.
An example of such a social networking system is disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0030985 A1, filed by Zheng Yuan on Jul. 24, 2008. The Zheng system discloses a system for family based online social networking. In the Zheng system each family has family members, a family profile, and a family policy, either the family profile provides information about the family to members of the social network. The family policy defines the accessibility of the information about the family within the social network. Different families may be associated as family friends, such that each member of one family may access the family profile of another family provided that the families are family friends.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0313291 A1, filed on Jun. 22, 2009 by Emily White, discloses a method and system for establishing and using a social network to facilitate people in life issues. The White system is directed to resolving life issues that arise when individuals or families relocate, including logistic problems, assimilation of family members in a community, and roommate pairings. Additionally, it is directed to facilitating corporations in relocating their employees, and assisting employees and their families U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0217342 A1, published on Aug. 27, 2009, provides additional background. All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
In May 2012, Associated Press reported that registered sex offenders who have been banned from social networking websites are successfully challenging in U.S. courts many of the restrictions related to the social network bans as infringements on free speech and their right to participate in common online discussions. In light of the fact that U.S. courts and state laws cannot properly protect children's profiles from being accessed by registered sex offenders, there is a really important need in the art for a social network system that can provide safeguards to protect children and families.